San Juan Capistrano incumbent councilmembers John Campbell and John Taylor had no challengers this November to their return to the council so the only ballots cast will decide a new face for the dais.
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Erin Beyer, a business operations manager, and Jeff Moore, an executive vice president, are vying for the open District 2 seat.
Beyer says she’s lived in town for almost 30 years and has been “involved in all aspects, including serving on a city commission, volunteering at schools, charity organizations, writing for the paper, co-hosting coffee chat, and our animal rescue.” She was the 2023 Woman of the Year.
“I have a proven track record of picking up the phone and getting things done. I don’t take no for an answer,” she added. “I find the solution and will always stand up for what is right.”
Moore is serving as chair of the city’s Planning Commission, which he says gives him “firsthand experience with the issues facing our community.”
“I bring more than 35 years of business leadership experience, where I learned to listen, build consensus, make difficult decisions, and be accountable for results,” he added. “Good leadership means finding common ground, respecting different perspectives, and getting things done.”
We asked the candidates questions about housing, city finances, transparency, and more, which you can read in our voter guide.
Here are some of their answers to questions:
How can the city best meet the demand and mandates for more housing, including at lower price points, while also preserving local control and the quality of life for existing neighborhoods and residents?
Beyer: Our city needs to work with the developers to include more than just the bare minimum of affordable units in each development for any new project approved. While also keeping within our local zoning and density codes so as to not create unmanageable traffic impacts.
More housing will not be better for anyone if the traffic impacts are not manageable. We cannot solve one problem by creating another.
Moore: San Juan Capistrano must comply with state housing requirements, but we should maintain as much local control as possible over how and where housing is built. More thoughtful growth means meeting our legal obligations while respecting San Juan Capistrano’s historic character, existing neighborhoods, infrastructure, and quality of life.
I support directing housing to appropriate locations where roads, utilities, and public services can accommodate it, while encouraging options for young families, seniors, and working residents at different price points.
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We should meet our responsibilities without accepting a one-size-fits-all approach from Sacramento. Housing decisions must account for traffic, parking, public safety, infrastructure, and community character. Keeping San Juan San Juan means planning for the future while preserving what makes our community unique.
In your opinion, what is the biggest need your city faces, and how would you address it?
Moore: One of San Juan Capistrano’s greatest challenges is managing growth and change without losing the character that makes our community special. We need more thoughtful growth and more respect for our history as we plan for the future.
Housing, traffic, infrastructure, development, and demands on city services are all connected. Major planning decisions affect our roads, parking, public safety, neighborhoods, businesses, and quality of life.
I would address these challenges through responsible, balanced planning — investing in infrastructure, improving traffic and parking, supporting public safety, and carefully evaluating development’s impact on the community.
Growth and change are inevitable, but losing our identity is not. Our historic character, equestrian heritage, and small-town sense of community are worth protecting. We should meet future needs while ensuring more for our neighborhoods, more for our families, and a community where San Juan remains San Juan.
Beyer: One of our biggest issues is parking and traffic. We have a vibrant downtown that draws a lot of visitors, but we have not kept up with the demand for parking.
We need to slow down and stop approving projects until we can address the problem that already exists.
We need to implement the recommendations in our parking study and also work with business owners to make sure that their employees have somewhere to park that is not in the downtown core.
Read more of the voter guide, including what the candidates said would make them good leaders and how they would represent the city’s diverse community at ocregister.com/voter-guide.
Ballots may be returned by mail (must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received within a week of Election Day) or to the OC Registrar of Voters’ drop boxes around town now, and the first vote centers will open for casting ballots in person on Oct. 24.
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